kescusay
@kescusay@lemmy.world
Developer and refugee from Reddit
- Comment on Microsoft is testing Game Pass ads on the Windows 11 Settings homepage 5 days ago:
Maybe they’re making more money now from ads shown in pirated copies of Windows than they do from actually selling Windows.
- Comment on Microsoft is testing Game Pass ads on the Windows 11 Settings homepage 6 days ago:
I wasn’t gonna say it, but yeah… I’ve been using Linux exclusively on my personal systems for more than 10 years. Every time I have to use Windows, it’s almost physically painful. How the hell do people put up with that crap?
- Comment on Microsoft is testing Game Pass ads on the Windows 11 Settings homepage 6 days ago:
Ethically, if not legally, this is terrible, as are all other steps Microsoft has taken to force ads onto your computer.
Seriously, think about it. You own the hardware, right? And the OS is present to run the hardware, right? To do that, it needs to be able to perform various tasks without your specific approval, and that’s fine, but using your bandwidth to download advertisements in the background, then using your computing cycles to force them in front of your eyes regardless of what you’re using the computer for, is awfully questionable. I would go so far as to say it’s a form of theft.
And no, ads on websites aren’t comparable. You, the user, are actively opting to view a web page that carries ads. You are choosing to grant them access to your eyeballs and the resources used by your browser. But nobody is actively seeking to view ads through their operating systems, and they don’t get anything in return (such as the content you went to that website for).
- Comment on Using Ubuntu may give off a hipster vibes to the average PC user, but within the Linux community its has the opposite effect. 1 week ago:
Arch Linux user here to say… Ubuntu’s fine, man. Love all the derivatives that can take advantage of the core Ubuntu system (e.g., Mint, which I’ve installed for family members).
I love Arch. I use it all the time. I will not inflict it on any family members.
- Comment on Republicans are pulling out all the stops to reverse EV adoption 1 week ago:
What the actual fuck is wrong with Republican politicians? I mean, I already know what’s wrong with Republican voters - brainwashing by years of Fox “News” - but the politicians? Are they all actual, literal sociopaths?
- Comment on Your body is completely dark except for the 1 molecule outside layer that light hits. 2 weeks ago:
If you count light outside of the human visible spectrum, it’s bright pretty much everywhere. Like, getting away from light requires specially constructed facilities.
- Comment on Windows 10 will start pushing users to use Microsoft accounts. How to turn it off. 4 weeks ago:
I’d say that depends a lot on what you want it to do. Are you looking for a very simple and easy desktop experience? Go with Ubuntu or one of its many derivatives. Do you pine for the glory days of RedHat? Go with fedora. Do you want maximal control over every facet of your computer? Arch.
- Comment on VPN by Google One is shutting down for good 5 weeks ago:
I’ve never even heard of it. They sure weren’t putting their VPN front and center.
- Comment on Microsoft starts testing ads in the Windows 11 Start menu 5 weeks ago:
I mean, yeah, a few, but there are plenty with Windows too, and the overwhelming majority of games I’ve tried it with work fine.
- Comment on Microsoft starts testing ads in the Windows 11 Start menu 5 weeks ago:
Well, of course. I mean it’s not like you paid for a Microsoft Windows license when you bought your computer, so obviously they have to advertise to financially support it. If you’re getting something for free, you’re the product.
…
…
…
Wait, I’m being told that when people buy computers with Windows installed, they are, in fact, paying for a Windows license, too.
So this is actually Microsoft trying to turn products they’ve already sold into continuous revenue streams at the cost of usability and customer happiness.
In other news, apropos of nothing in particular, Steam on Linux is working really well these days, with lots of AAA titles running just fine via Proton. Make of that what you will…
- Comment on Homeowner baffled after washing machine uses 3.6GB of internet data a day 1 month ago:
I simply will not buy a washing machine where some of the options for its regular use require an internet connection. I can see adding Bluetooth to it for things like remote control and phone notifications, or even WLAN support for connecting to some kind of smarthome hub that is internet-connected so you can get those notifications remotely. But the idea that smart == device-level internet connection is terrible. Appliances for basic living requirements, like laundry, should not require an internet connection of their own to function.
- Comment on Homeowner baffled after washing machine uses 3.6GB of internet data a day 1 month ago:
Mine plays a loud jingle when it’s done, which seems to be enough for me.
- Comment on Homeowner baffled after washing machine uses 3.6GB of internet data a day 1 month ago:
This particular homeowner is baffled that anyone would buy a washing machine that needs an internet connection. I’m all for smart appliances, but a smart washing machine is a solution in search of a problem.
- Comment on Can you un-smart a smart tv? 2 months ago:
Even if you want streaming, don’t use the TV’s apps. Use a Chromecast or attach an entertainment PC to it. Chromecasts can be replaced for cheap, PCs can be upgraded. Neither is true of a “smart” TV.
- Comment on Microsoft defends barging in on Chrome with pop-up ads pushing Bing, GPT-4 2 months ago:
Slack still exists, but it’s not particularly popular. Arch is one of the big ones now.
- Comment on Microsoft defends barging in on Chrome with pop-up ads pushing Bing, GPT-4 2 months ago:
Can confirm, have an old entertainment PC with an NVidia card. I converted it to Linux, and it’s fine.
- Comment on Microsoft defends barging in on Chrome with pop-up ads pushing Bing, GPT-4 2 months ago:
How is it with Windows applications?
- Comment on Microsoft defends barging in on Chrome with pop-up ads pushing Bing, GPT-4 2 months ago:
My experience was 100% different. I bought a new laptop, plugged in my Linux USB drive, wiped Windows, installed Linux, and did exactly none of the things you went through.
And that’s largely down to two things:
- The fact that I bought a laptop specifically known to have excellent Linux support.
- The fact that I’m a software developer.
So everything I want to do on a computer tends to work better in Linux than in Windows, rather than the other way around. My compile times are faster, my IDEs are more stable, and my OS just… gets out of the way, which is exactly what it should do.
Mind if I ask what programs and services you were trying and failing to run on Linux? You’ve got me curious, because our experiences are so different.
- Comment on Microsoft defends barging in on Chrome with pop-up ads pushing Bing, GPT-4 2 months ago:
If anything will finally result in the “year of the Linux desktop,” it’s shit like this. No one wants their operating system actively working to make it harder and more annoying to use their choice of applications.
The OS isn’t the reason anyone uses a computer, it’s the applications it can run.
- Comment on Keywords tried to make a game using GenAI but said the tech was 'unable to replace talent' 2 months ago:
Amen to that! I also spend a fair amount of time thinking about new features and how they would plug into our vast ecosystem, no part of which could Copilot possibly know anything about.
- Comment on [deleted] 2 months ago:
“Him” at the end should be “her.” (“Lui” can mean either.)
- Comment on Keywords tried to make a game using GenAI but said the tech was 'unable to replace talent' 2 months ago:
Story time:
I’m a software developer for a large, multinational company. Yesterday, I needed to update the Knex migrations for the project I’m assigned to. We needed three new PostgreSQL tables, with several foreign key constraints. I added the migration to our existing migrations in a backend plugin we’re building out.
I use Copilot for developers regularly. It was helpful in this case, generating the table migrations automatically. Of course, it hallucinated a few methods Knex doesn’t have, but I’m used to things like that, and easily corrected them. Once I was done testing, I created a pull request to merge the commit in my working branch with the main branch in git.
Now, look at what I just wrote. If you’re not a developer, you probably have no idea what “Knex” or “PostgreSQL” mean. You probably recognize the words “foreign,” “key,” and “constraints,” but you haven’t got a clue why I’m using them in that order or what I’m referring to. It likely looks like I’m using the word “migrations” completely incorrectly. You don’t know what it means for “Knex” to have “methods.” Words like “git,” “pull request,” and “commit” just read like gibberish to you.
You wouldn’t know how to ask Copilot to do anything. You wouldn’t know where to place any results you manage to get from it. If your boss came to you and said, “here’s this feature requirement, make it happen,” you would fail. You wouldn’t know why, either. Hell, you wouldn’t even know what it is your boss is trying to accomplish. You could spend the next six months trying to figure it all out, and maybe you’d succeed, but probably not. Because you aren’t a developer.
I’m a developer. All of what I wrote above makes perfect sense to me, and it’s one of the simplest tasks I could tackle. Took about fifteen minutes to accomplish, from creating the migration file to getting the PR ready to merge.
I’ve been lambasted for insisting that large language models aren’t going to replace actual professionals because they’re not capable of joined-up thinking, meta-cognition, or creativity. I get told they’ll be able to do all of that any day now, and my boss will be able to fire all of his employees and replace them with an MBA - or worse, do the work himself. Depending on the attitudes of who I’m talking to, this is either a catastrophe or the greatest thing since sliced bread.
It’s neither, because that’s not going to happen. Look at the story above, and tell me you could do the same thing with no training or understanding, because ChatGPT could do it all. You know that’s bullshit. It can’t. LLMs are useful tools for people like me, and that’s it. It’s another tool in the toolbox, like IntelliSense and linters - two more terms you don’t know if you’re not a developer.
The bloom is beginning to come off the rose. Businesses are gradually realizing the pie-in-the-sky promises of LLM boosters are bogus.
- Comment on Microsoft's draconian Windows 11 restrictions will send an estimated 240 million PCs to the landfill when Windows 10 hits end of life in 2025 2 months ago:
This is a huge business opportunity for someone with the know-how. They should offer a consulting service that does the following:
- Catalogs the software your company is using.
- Identifies which ones have native Linux versions, which ones work well under WINE, and which ones will need to be replaced with either a different native application or an online equivalent.
- Installs and configures Linux with a Windows-like UI on your old systems, and gets them set up with the replacement software.
Offer a support contract that severely undercuts anything Microsoft is
gougingselling. Offer basic training, too.Anyone who does that can make bank.
- Comment on Now that ChatGPT is being trained using Reddit posts 2 months ago:
Your right.
- Comment on Linux market share passes 4% for first time 2 months ago:
Because it means Linux is gaining enough credibility as a desktop operating system for PC and parts manufacturers to work harder to ensure compatibility.
Everyone seems to want off the Microsoft upgrade train. Consumers don’t want to constantly fear that the OS will stop getting security updates because Microsoft doesn’t want to make them anymore. Manufacturers of PCs don’t want to pay the Microsoft tax. Parts manufacturers know it’s actually easier to write drivers for Linux than it is for Windows.
But until Linux shows signs of being a credible and attractive alternative, it’s not going to break Microsoft’s stranglehold on all three.
- Comment on Passenger sees Boeing 757-200 “wing coming apart” mid-air — United flight from San Francisco to Boston makes emergency landing in Denver 2 months ago:
Or the original Shatner episode.
“There’s something… on the wing!”
- Comment on Microsoft's Pricey AI Assistant Copilot Leaves Early Adopters Feeling Cheated 2 months ago:
It’s more like you get some kind of weird construction multitool that promises to be a level, a drill, a hammer, and a dozen other things, and it turns out to be a really good, innovative, and helpful level… and a really bad everything else.
- Comment on Microsoft's Pricey AI Assistant Copilot Leaves Early Adopters Feeling Cheated 2 months ago:
Yeah, I figured that out eventually, but also figure the same probably applies to the other Copilot. Same underlying technology.
Wish Microsoft would use different names for different implementations.
- Comment on Microsoft's Pricey AI Assistant Copilot Leaves Early Adopters Feeling Cheated 2 months ago:
Copilot isn’t actually bad, it’s just that you need to be careful with it and recognize it’s limitations.
Writing a bunch of REST endpoints for an API and need to implement all the typical http verbs, and you already have all the matching methods for reading, updating, and deleting values in a complex SQL database for each endpoint to call? Copilot can turn a ten minute chore into a ten second one. Very handy.
Writing those complex SQL methods in the first place? Yeah… Copilot will probably make a ton of mistakes and its work will need to be triple-checked. You’ll save time just doing it yourself if you know how. (And if you don’t, you have no business calling yourself a developer.)
Copilot is best for easy boilerplate and repetitive code. Problems arise as soon as you ask it to get “creative.”
- Comment on Mozilla slams Microsoft for using dark patterns to drive Windows users towards Edge in a new Research Report 3 months ago:
I switched to Linux years ago, and have never looked back. Every computer in my house except one (my mandatory work laptop) runs some flavor of Linux, and my kids have never been forced to use Windows at all. And if I have my way, they never will.